Horse racing in Colorado is centered on Arapahoe Park, a track in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado. Their racing season features events for multiple breeds including Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, and Arabians. Traditionally, the most important races in Colorado include the Mile High Futurity for two-year-old Quarter Horses, the Mile High Derby for three-year-old Quarter Horses, and the Gold Rush Futurity for two-year-old Thoroughbreds.
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Thanks to online racebooks and betting apps, horseplayers can get in on the betting action from anywhere with an internet connection on their computer, tablet, or phone. These sites are safe, secure, and convenient, and you can bet on horse racing at Arapahoe Park and all over the world! They also offer market-leading odds and excellent bonuses that you'll never find at the racetrack.
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Colorado Race Tracks
There is one live horse racing track in the state of Colorado: Arapahoe Park, in Aurora. The track hosts live racing for Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, and even Arabian horses.
Arapahoe Park opened in 1984 after the previous racetrack in Colorado, Centennial Race Track, closed in 1983. However, the track was only open for a season before it went bankrupt and closed. Luckily for horse racing in Colorado, Arapahoe was not torn down after it closed. In 1992 it was purchased by new ownership, renovated, and reopened for live racing.
Arapahoe typically runs its race meet from late spring through the summer, though in 2024 it had to run its meet in the fall due to necessary backstretch renovations that could not be finished in time for its usual spot on the calendar. In 2025, the track plans to run a meet from August through late October, a happy medium between the traditional summer meet and the 2024 fall meet.
Colorado Horse Races
The top Thoroughbred race at Arapahoe Park is the Gold Rush Futurity, a six-furlong sprint for juveniles. The track also offers a series of Colorado-bred stakes for Thoroughbreds, but the Gold Rush Futurity is open to horses bred anywhere.
For Quarter Horses, the major races on the Colorado calendar include the Mile High Futurity for two-year-olds and the Mile High Derby for three-year-olds. These two races, with trials and finals, are open to horses bred anywhere. Earlier in the meet the track offers the Rocky Mountain Futurity and Rocky Mountain Derby, also open to Quarter Horses bred anywhere. The track also offers a program of Colorado-bred and Colorado-preferred stakes for Quarter Horses of all ages.
Major stakes for Arabian horses in Colorado include the Emirates Breeders Arabian VIP Stakes and Emirates Breeders Arabian VIP Distaff.
Off Track Betting in Colorado
Horse racing and pari-mutuel betting in Colorado are regulated by the Division of Racing Events, part of the Colorado Department of Revenue. In addition to live and simulcast wagering at Arapahoe Park in Aurora, they sanction nine other off-track betting locations around the state. Horse racing fans can get together and bet horse racing in Colorado and all over the world at these locations.